A Miracle
by Numb3rsfan
Summary: The Eppes family must pull together when ten year old Charlie Eppes develops a brain tumor.
1. Symptoms

**Title: A Miracle**

**Author: Numb3rsfan**

**Rating: PG-13**

**Warnings: Angst, H/C**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Numb3rs, or any of its characters. This fic was made for the entertainment of the reader.**

**Summary: The Eppes family must pull together when ten year old Charlie Eppes develops a brain tumor.**

Chapter One. 'Symptoms'

Ten year old Charlie Eppes was a bundle of energy to his parents, Alan and Margaret Eppes, and he was an annoying little brat to his big brother, Don. When Charlie wasn't doing his lessons with his special math teacher, he was pestering Don or his parents.

Alan and Margaret thought this was funny, but Don wasn't enjoying it, so he started to push Charlie away, literally and figuratively.

Charlie, being as young as he was, didn't seem hurt by Don's cold shoulder, because he always seemed to have a smile on his young face.

However, in mid August that all began to change.

Ten year old Charlie was lying on the couch staring in to the fireplace as the flames ate at the fresh wood his father had placed in there no more than fifteen minutes ago. Charlie felt drained, but he always did.

"Charlie, what's the matter son?" Alan Eppes asked as he stopped in front of the couch and knelt down so he was at eye level with his son.

"M'so tired." Charlie said softly.

"Hmm. That's what happens when you stay up to late." Alan said before he ruffled Charlie's hair and stood back up.

Charlie watched his father walk away, before he shut his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Margaret noticed Charlie always laying around and acting tired and she was getting a little worried, but Alan assured her that it was nothing that a good rest wouldn't cure.

Believing her husband, Margaret let Charlie be for the time being.

Two days slowly passed in the Eppes household and Charlie was doing what he did best, math. He worked on his homework but he couldn't seem to concentrate and more than once his teacher had to wake him up because he had fallen asleep at the table while working.

Walking over to her son who had fallen asleep once again, Margaret lifted him up in to her arms before she carried him upstairs to his bed, gently laying him down.

"Oh Charlie." She murmured lovingly, kissing the top of his head before leaving the room and heading back downstairs.

She greeted Charlie's teacher and thanked him for coming before showing him out of the house.

When the teacher was gone, Margaret crossed her arms and looked up the stairs, towards her youngest son's bedroom. She had this feeling that something was terribly wrong, but she couldn't prove it, and she didn't want to take Charlie to the doctors because she knew how much her son hated the doctors.

A few hours later, Don was outside shooting some hoops, Alan was in the study reading a magazine and Margaret was cooking dinner.

Slowly Charlie plodded downstairs looking a little better, more wide awake.

Rubbing the sleepers out of his eyes, Charlie yawned before going to the kitchen.

"Hey mom!" He said with a smile on his face.

"Hi! Feeling better?" Margaret asked, seeing her son's smiling face once again.

Charlie vigorously nodded his head as he said, "And I'm really hungry!"

"Great! Dinner will be in an hour, but how about I fix you a little snack?" Margaret asked.

Again Charlie nodded his head before going over to the table and sitting down, while his mother fixed him a bowl of cereal.

"Here you go, honey." Margaret said, putting the bowl and the spoon down in front of her son. Almost immediately Charlie picked the spoon up and dipped it in to the bowl, before shoveling the food in to his mouth.

Smiling, Margaret put a hand to her son's cheek, before returning to preparing dinner.

Minutes went by, and all Margaret could hear was her son hungrily chomping down on his healthy snack.

"That was good!" Charlie said, turning and smiling at his mother, before he turned back and stood up, intending to take his now empty bowl to the sink.

As Charlie stood, his stomach suddenly revolted. The ok feeling he had turned in to queasiness, before Charlie leaned his head forward and vomited everything he had eaten, back in to the bowl.

Hearing this, Margaret whirled around, a concerned expression on her face as she saw Charlie vomit in to his cereal bowl.

Hurrying over to him, she helped her son lean back against his chair.

"Charlie?...Charlie?" Margaret asked, studying her son's face.

Charlie however looked dazed. His eyes were slightly glazed over as he stared at the far wall. His skin was pale and icy to the touch, though he did have a cold sweat. The front of his shirt was also soaked in sweat as well.

"Don't move!" Margaret said as she rushed to the table and grabbed her car keys, before going to the closet and removing a blanket.

Then as an after thought she rushed to the den and said, "Charlie's sick. I'm taking him to the hospital."

At that, Alan looked up from his magazine, a concerned expression on his face.

"I'll come with you." He said, rising from his seat, tossing the magazine aside.

Quickly Alan followed Margaret, but while Margaret went over to Charlie, wrapping him up and then picking him up, Alan went outside and rounded up Don before they all clamored in to the car and raced off to the hospital.


	2. At the hospital

A Miracle Chapter 2

As one the Eppes family entered the hospital. Charlie was in his father's arms, with Don walking beside them. Margaret quickly rushed up to the admittance desk saying, "My son needs to see a doctor!"

The nurse looked up at her before asking, "Does he have an appointment?"

"No. But he just vomited like an explosion." Margaret said, worry clear in her voice as she looked at the nurse with pleading eyes.

"Name?" The nurse asked, getting ready to pencil Charlie's name in.

"Uh Eppes, Charlie." Margaret replied quickly.

"I'll see what I can do." The nurse replied, penciling Charlie's name in to the book, not looking back at Margaret, who's mouth hung open at the nurses' lack of kindness and compassion.

Turning, Margaret hurried back over to Charlie, who was still in his father's arms, but Alan and Don were sitting in the waiting room chairs.

"Darling?" Margaret asked softly, putting a hand on her son's shoulder, seeing Charlie wince and put his hands to his eyes, as if the sounds around him were really hurting him.

To Charlie's eyes everything around him seemed to ripple, like a rock skipping off the water in a pond. It would have scared Charlie, but the sounds all around him were sharper and louder, and it really hurt a lot.

Several minutes passed before Charlie sat up in his father's lap.

Margaret who was looking down the hall for a doctor, turned her head and looked at her son when he sat up.

"Charlie?" She asked softly.

Charlie didn't answer her, all he did was lean forward and vomit again all over the floor.

All Alan could do was hold on to his son helplessly as Charlie vomited on the floor.

The nurse who had checked Charlie in, looked up before grabbing a cloth and hurrying over.

When Charlie stopped, he weakly looked up at the nurse, who was busily wiping up the mess he made.

"Sorry." Charlie said softly, clearly not feeling good.

"That's alright. I can clean it." The nurse replied before she looked up at Charlie's face.

She was about to look back down at the mess when she saw Charlie's eyes.

Immediately she stopped cleaning the mess and took out her pen light, shining it in both of Charlie's eyes.

A look of worry was clear on her face as she looked at Alan and Margaret.

"I'll get a doctor right away." The nurse said, putting up her pen light and hurrying off.

Alan and Margaret looked at each other, before Alan held his youngest son close, deeply worried, because he had seen the nurse's face, and that worried look deeply worried Alan.

"Everything's going to be alright, Charlie." Alan whispered, feeling Charlie put his hands back up to his ears.

Swallowing, Alan looked at his wife, who was busy brushing the growing hair on the side of her youngest son's face.

"Charlie Eppes."

Alan and Margaret looked to the side to see the nurse and a doctor standing there.

Rising, Alan and Margaret headed over to the doctor, with Don following.

Quickly they all entered an exam room.

While the doctor stood beside the exam table, Alan went over and carefully sat his son down on the table before stepping back to stand beside Margaret, holding her close.

Don also stood to the other side of his mother, watching the doctor perform a cursory inspection of Charlie.

What the doctor did was check Charlie's heartbeat, and then the back of his throat and then his ears and eyes.

Finally the doctor had Charlie do a few simple tests.

"Ok Charlie. I want you to take your left index finger. Bring it to the side and back in to touch your nose." The doctor said, before he studied Charlie closely.

Slowly Charlie raised his arm out and then brought it back in. About half way his arm was headed straight for his nose, before his hand drifted to the side of his face, making his index finger end up beside his ear.

Seeing this, Margaret looked worriedly at her husband, while the doctor patted Charlie's knee.

"That's alright. It's alright. Try again. Arm to the side and back in." The doctor said.

Again Charlie tried the same thing, and again his index finger ended up right beside his ear.

The doctor patted Charlie's knee again before he stood up.

"Ok Charlie. I need you to do one more thing." The doctor said.

"I'm so tired." Charlie said in a drained voice.

Margaret went over to her son and helped him off of the exam table as she said, "It's alright sweetie, just do the best you can."

"Alright Charlie. See this line? I want you to walk beside the line, placing one foot in front of the other." The doctor said, standing to the side while Margaret backed up until she stood at the very end of the line.

Charlie looked down at the floor before he slowly started to walk. His first step was good, but on his second step he wavered and crossed over the line, before he stumbled and fell right in to his mother's arms.

Worriedly Margaret looked up at the doctor, who said, "It's alright. I've seen what I wanted to see. I'm going to order a brain scan."

Quickly the doctor left the room to contact the tech person who actually took the x-rays.

Meanwhile, Margaret looked at her husband, who was looking at their son sadly.

Don for his part had a calm look on his face, though his eyes betrayed the worry he had for his brother.


End file.
